Automatic transmission??

Venom 1000TT

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Thinking of going with an auto trans for my viper. Any ideas? Pros or Cons? I still would be able to convert back to a 6 speed at any time by swapping it back in a few hours. Let me know your thoughts! :confused:
 

ohiodoc

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I heard of a guy in New Jersey that was handicap do it. I think it is the way to go if you are drag racing it.
 

GTSnake

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I've often thought about it as well. I think I would prefer to have an auto too.

Which tranny are you thinking about? Is it going to be set up for street/strip?
 

FE 065

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There aren't alot of auto choices. The 2 speed drag trans uses a first gear ratio that's about the same as starting off in 2nd, so that's out for the street I'd say. There are SEQUENTIAL transmissions (page down to Viper) that'll bolt in for the same money. Add a momentary ignition interrupt and gear changes take microseconds....And the fast 6 spd dragstrip guys won't be pouting about you having an automatic
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ohiodoc

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What about building up a automatic from the v-10 they made a couple years ago? Is there any airshifters out there you can use? Or is there anyway you could make a 727 work?
 

jp

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Most automatics are to wide for the Viper. A 904 housing with 727 internals will work. In a TT Viper would I choose a race built PG.
 
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Venom 1000TT

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Yea I hear you about the shifting thing, but the beauty of the one I'm thinking of getting is that it's interchangeable. Although not a quick swap but in/out in less than a day. I already have a lift/tools & already put a rebuilt one in my car so it's no big deal for me to go back to a 6 speed when I get bored with the auto. Mainly I'd like it for drag racing and also these street cruises where you go 3 feet & have to put the clutch in and go another 3 feet, etc. which is ******* the car & you. Road racing I'm not so sure how it would work but I can always switch back to the 6 speed. The one I'm looking at sounds very streetable to me ( more than 2 speeds ) & looks very "stock" if a Viper were to come with an auto. I guess money's the only factor right now for a decision. It always comes down to that! :smirk:
 

Kiaser

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Wouldn't tuning and keeping the computer in order be another thing you'd have to deal with when swapping the tranny out occasionally?
 

Dr Roof

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Yea I hear you about the shifting thing, but the beauty of the one I'm thinking of getting is that it's interchangeable. Although not a quick swap but in/out in less than a day. I already have a lift/tools & already put a rebuilt one in my car so it's no big deal for me to go back to a 6 speed when I get bored with the auto. Mainly I'd like it for drag racing and also these street cruises where you go 3 feet & have to put the clutch in and go another 3 feet, etc. which is ******* the car & you. Road racing I'm not so sure how it would work but I can always switch back to the 6 speed. The one I'm looking at sounds very streetable to me ( more than 2 speeds ) & looks very "stock" if a Viper were to come with an auto. I guess money's the only factor right now for a decision. It always comes down to that! :smirk:

which one are you looking at? what does it cost?

thanks
 

Jay Herbert

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RSI and East Coast Vipers have both done several. SVSi has too, they even went to the effort of swapping one in and out of their drag car at one of the V-10 Nationals events. If someone is selling you that they can be swapped as fast as an hour, "easily", run, do not walk to a different supplier.
 

SilverBlueGTS

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For low ET's and reliability and consistency on big power cars, you cant beat a well engineered auto trans.

What is the low ET at the dragstrip with an auto trans? I will bet its a lot quicker than the low ET with the manual.
 

Mopar426

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Here is a local car that runs an auto (Dr. Fudge) and this car is in the 9's ALL MOTOR by the way. :cool:

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Venom 1000TT

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Right now I'm looking at the [******] one on his site & talked with him about it. I didn't know anyone else offered one. He actually offers 2 types of auto tranny's. I'd opt for the more streetable one.
 

BLEBYU

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Most automatics are to wide for the Viper. A 904 housing with 727 internals will work. In a TT Viper would I choose a race built PG.

My GTS with the Hemi has all stock rame rails and it has a 727 with a transbrake and a carbon fiber shield. It is a tight fit, and the motor is still all behind the axle centerline. It might work but it is tight. It would depend on how much space the adapter takes up.

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gary

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I saw this discussion about automatics. I have one... I'm the one mentioned above, some guy who uses a wheelchair from NJ. I'm going to be posting a classified ad tomorrow evening as I decided to sell the car. Yep, married, have a dog, kids hopefully soon and buying a house. The car just doesn't fit in at this time.

I saw someone mentioned the torque converter. It took two tries to get it just right. Now if you run it to 2000 rpms it will burn rubber endlessly. I have a ratchet shifter on a custom manual valve body. It shifts so hard, you get body slammed on each shift. I will miss the car, it certainly deserves a good new owner.
 

FE 065

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Details Gary...who did the trans for you, what convertor is in it now etc?
 

gary

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the guy who did the work is brad at http://toptechtrans.com
. his web page is empty right now, but for his number. i don't remember the details on the converter etc. it's been a while. i will get it from brad. but, it was not an off the shelf converter, it was custom made. the same goes for the core. the belts and clutches are all replaced. he built a belt stabilizer to stop flutter. heat was a problem. we had a custom cooler made. now it runs nominally at 150-180 (very cool). i think the stall rate was set around 1200-1500 rpm, i need to check. when it was fully automatic, we always had heat problems with the TV cable because it needs to run over the top of the engine. going fully manual solved that problem and made it more fun. in the rear i put 3.73 gears and i built a web page to calculate the gears needed.
 

JGK95

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...It shifts so hard, you get body slammed on each shift...

The mental visual of someone getting bodyslammed wrestler style had me laughing for a bit!

Holeee.. Geez.. Uh oh ... OH NO!!

BODY SLAM!! :D

LOLOLOL!!
 

Marv S

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i built a web page to calculate the gears needed.

Bit modest there, Gary. He is the person who was in Viper Magazine with the A/T Viper and developed the gear chart so many Viper owners use. Thanks, Gary :2tu: http://chuckware.net/viper/gears.asp

Small note *** When the calculator came out 5 years or so ago I noticed the tire size diameter of 25.4" seemed off. The math calculation for a 335*35*17 is 26.23". So I measured my rear tire and Gary was correct with the 25.4". So I asked John Purner why the measured size of the 335*35*17 was so much smaller than the calculated size and he said
"tire manufactures perogative, they should spec higher, but most manufactures just widen the 305-315 35 mold, hence the less than calculated od."


727:

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Joseph Houss

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"Yep, married, have a dog, kids hopefully soon and buying a house. The car just doesn't fit in at this time."

Ahem, just to clarify, the dog is definitely NOT what he's married to! :smirk:

Gary, you ARE the man, and if anyone doesn't remember, Gary was voted "MOST ENTHUSIASTIC MEMBER" during St Louis VOI!

His RT/10 is definitely unique, and kicks asp!

I betcha he'll be back in the saddle sometime soon!

Remember Gary, you can't drive your house at 150mph!
 

Y2K5SRT

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We also have a local club member with an automatic transmission. It was worked on in Houston by *********************************************** and had a lot of problems. Woodhouse Dodge then took it apart and rebuilt the thing from scratch. I can't remember which tranny it was, but it is a street transmission (4 speed?) from a production DC vehicle. And while I agree with Graphite that it is more fun to shift, some people don't have that luxury like our wheelchair-bound friend (Gary) and our Kansas City VCA member with a similar situation. Doesn't make it any less a Viper and even makes it faster than most...
 

gary

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I spoke to brad today at top tech (here is his interim web site while the other is built http://importperformancetrans.com ). He said the torque converter (TC) was a modified Coan (did I spell that right?). he's been building a lot of HP transmissions. Mine was first done in Houston and, well I had problems like the gentlemen mentioned above and also rebuilt mine. I think I actually spoke to him and traded some tech tips. I hope his is working well. The person from Houston who caused all of these problems has hidden his assets very well. I won a judgment against him, but so far have only been able to collect a small amount. I'm thinking about combining 'energies' with others who have judgments against him as I am first in line (after the IRS) in TX. He put, maybe illegally, 'stuff' in his wife's name.

I wish all well at VOI, I wish I could go, but I just got back from a 3 week trip to the Czech rep. (I recommend south bohemia, very nice). I would also like to convert those AT skeptics, laughing above, heh heh, heh . It's a Viper! While I would prefer to drive an MT, it's better to do something, even if unconventional than watch and wish. I had my fun, I met some very nice people at the viper club and, as Joe said, I'll beeeee back.......

PS Thank you for the kind words
 
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